July 8th - L' Anse aux Meadows - Newfoundland

Yesterday I could not go much further north on Newfoundland - I reached my trip goal at L' Anse aux Meadows - the only recognized site in North America of where the Vikings had an establishment.  The Vikings lived on and off at the site for about 8 years. The site was uncovered and verified as a Viking site in 1960 by a Norwegian explorer and his archeologist wife.

The mound behind me is an exact recreation of the living quarters site.   And yes - that is blue sky in the background.  My schedule was not to be at the site until July 9th or 10th but when I checked the weather  it looked like rain from the 9th through the 17th and so I decided to take advantage of the only clear day I've had on the island.

Our guide for a tour we took was very good.  He had no official higher education degree but he grew up in a small village of 62 people at the site and played there as a kid.  He said he was standing there when the site was officially discovered.  The green mound in the picture above, is the actual site of the original living quarters.  He had just turned 60 and experience along with working with the archeologists  from Europe, and North America gave him practical knowledge that would be hard to replicate in a pure academic environment.

It was a pretty emotional moment for me to reach this point on the trip and on top of everything - the skies parted and the sun came out.  Right now I'm in a bed and breakfast about 1 hour and 20 minutes from L' Anse aux Meadows but will be going back to the site today and spending the night at at Marylan's Hospitality House.  The pictures above and to the right are all from the town where I spent last night - Flower Cove.  In the background behind the light house is Labrador and if you look very close you can see a ship.  This is in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the beginning of what will later turn into the Saint Lawrence Sea Way.  If you look very close, in the picture below, you can just see a small white speck, in the gulf, and close to Labrador - that's an ice burg.

On the way back from L' Anse aux Meadows I saw my first moose along the side of the road.  Also on the drive back - slowing down from my more usual high clip, because it was getting late in the day, I spotted a moose about 100 feet in front of me and on the opposite side of the road.  I slowed to a stop but Bill started to go around me and the moose ran out in front of his bike.  It was just a little too close....

Living in Sonoma County, I am very spoiled.  Relatively speaking we have very few bugs.  In the late afternoon on a warm day we might have one or two mosquitoes and we go inside.  In Newfoundland and most of the Eastern Coast of North America - bugs are what you get in the summer.  Yesterday at the site there were so many black flies that it was hard to concentrate.  When the sun comes out - you get bugs.  Black flies actually take a small bite out of your skin to get to the blood.  Mosquitoes are not one or two but hundreds if not thousands and you either deal with it by putting repellent on and smelling all day and feeling greasy until you can wash it off or you get bitten.  Whenever I've mentioned anything about the bugs - I just get a blank stare - (yea - so?).  These folks live a hard life but - it's home and I'm sure they have the same reaction that I have to bugs over living in California with more people than the entire country of Canada, earthquakes and the constant worry of summer fires.  I guess home is home.

As I've said so many times - what has made this trip so remarkable for me have been the people that I've met.  Our host and hostest at this B&B are both retired teachers and one of the other guest - Charlie is a doctor from Halifax that comes over here every year to look for new plants.  Charlie told me this morning that there are over 60 different types of Orchids that grow in the bogs and along the road in Newfoundland.  He said they are very small and most grow very low to the ground.



Tomorrow morning will mark the start of my return home.  I hope to be back in Sebastopol by July 25th.  I'm sure I will continue to meet interesting people along the way even if I'm more focused on getting back home.